‎The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) directed by David Lean • Reviews, film + cast • Letterboxd 17 ”There are times when suddenly you realize you're nearer the end than the beginning. And you wonder, you ask yourself, what the sum total of your life represents. What difference your being there at any time made to anything.” According to Letterboxd this was my 1000th movie so to mark this occasion I decided to visit a renowned work of one of my favorite filmmakers of all time: Sir David Lean and his majestic, impossible to resist and superb The Bridge on the River Kwai. And unsurprisingly it turned out to be a true absorbing classic. Just timeless. David Lean is famous for the grandeur and epic scale of his films, it didn’t matter if it was the vast boiling… 2 There's a lot to admire about The Bridge on the River Kwai. It's a grand production put together amazingly well by David Lean & benefits greatly from his composed direction, some wonderful performances as well as its expertly executed third act. Yet when compared to its near-unanimous praise, it turned out to be slightly underwhelming experience for me.

The story of The Bridge on the River Kwai is set in a Japanese prison camp during the Second World War where the newly arrived British prisoners of war are ordered to construct a railway bridge; a task which is later overseen by their senior officer after his conditions are accepted but he's completely oblivious of the allies' plan to destroy it. Directed… 4 **Part of the Best Picture Project** David Lean's The Bridge on the River Kwai is a film about men and their principles. To each man, their principles are a thing of valor, and something that defines them. Nicholson (Guiness) believes in the book, and cooperating with the Japanese to make the best of things. Warden too, believes in the book, but in a vastly different way, and only seeks to get the job done. Shears, meanwhile, values no book but his own, the one of survival. Then there is Saito, who is stuck to his own Japanese code of honor. It's ultimately fascinating to watch all these principles come into conflict over the title bridge built by British prisoners.

For… 2 The first of many epics directed by David Lean, The Bridge on the River Kwai is a POW (more precisely, of WWII) film based on Pierre Boulle's world famous novel that tells the story of the destruction of a railway bridge over the river Kwai, which was built by the British prisoners in the occupied Burma. Counting with a spetacular production, this war epic won the hearts of the audience and eventually won 7 Academy Awards, including best picture, best writing, best actor and best director. As I expected, it didn't take me long to fall in love with the film on a technical level, as it's composed of a beautiful cinematography handled by David Lean's regular Jack Hildyard in… 5 This is one of those films that I can watch at any time (despite the long runtime) and be completely enthralled. I also have a soft spot for David Lean, despite only having seen 5 of his films. That being said, both Lawrence of Arabia and The Bridge on the River Kwai are masterpieces (Doctor Zhivago is close to that status as well).

The story works on multiple levels - as a character study, a spectacular war film, and a gripping drama. All aspects are brilliant and always captivating and engaging. The film flies by, in what seems like an hour. The characters are great as well, memorable as ever. All the acting is fantastic, and feels especiallu modern for… 5 The Bridge on the River Kwai is an English war drama directed by the king of epics, David Lean and is only one of his many collaborations with the legendary and knighted actor Alec Guinness. Most of the film takes place inside a Japanese POW camp during WW2 and follows captured soldiers who are ordered to build a bridge for a Japanese railway that passes over the river Kwai in Burma. A duel of wills is sparked when the highest ranking Brittish officer, Lieteunant Colonel Nicholson (Alec Guinness) and the Japanese camp commander Colonel Saito (Sessue Hayakawa) disagree regarding the treatment of prisoners. I was immediately struck by the films magnificent visual beauty and the enormousness of it all.

The… View All Critic Reviews (53) Audience Reviews for The Bridge on the River Kwai An excellent war movie focused on characters rather than on battles, with an intense Oscar-winning performance by Alec Guinness. The cinematography is not flawless, with some scenes visibly filmed during the day and darkened to appear as night, but this is compensated by a suspenseful climax that is unforgettable. Carlos Magalhães Super Reviewer A battalion of British POWs are forced to build a bridge while an American soldier is charged with blowing it up. Exquisitely plotted, this film is remarkably compelling from beginning to end. At almost three hours, the film's run time is typical of David Lean, who doesn't care how long a film is; he cares how long it's good. The performance by Alec Guinness is the strongest, as he's able to convey his character's journey subtly, and William Holden is as charmingly surly as William Holden has always been. The film's themes of ambition and the need for purpose come through, and the cinematography is beautiful. Overall, this film is a classic for good reason. Jim Hunter Super Reviewer Powerful film about an aspect of WWII not many people learn about any more.

Excellent performances all around, but particularly striking performance from the idealistic martinet Guinness. Christian C Super Reviewer The Bridge on the River Kwai is a near flawless war drama based on the fiction book by French author Pierre Boulle. I thought that this was a great film, but it wasn't as flawless as many critics have said it was. I found myself enjoying the film, but at times I felt that the film could have been a lot more authentic and showed what life was really like in the POW camps. Directed by director David Lean, The Bridge on the River Kwai is a well made film that does have great performances, but is not without its flaws. Alec Guinness is wonderful as the insane Col. Nicholson and the movie displays his downward spiral into madness, and he delivers in his role. The plot itself is wonderful, and has something to offer classic war film fans. Like I said, this is not a perfect film, and it could have been better in some areas. David Lean would go on to direct Lawrence of Arabia, a far more superior drama and it would be a much grander picture in scope and execution.

This is nonetheless a great film, but compared to The Great Escape, and Lawrence of Arabia, it really isn't as strong due to its portrayal of the lead characters being in league with the Japanese, and that's something that disturbed me. This is a brilliant film and it is a must see classic for fans of old War drama films. Like I said, the film is not perfect, but is a necessary film to watch if you're a fan of cinema. Alec Guinness is great, and he plays the character in such a way that you don't know whether to like him or not, which is a nice touch. The Bridge on the River Kwai is a flawed, but very good film, and if you've enjoyed this film or not, you definitely should check out David Lean's other war drama, Lawrence of Arabia, which is filmmaking at its finest. If you love David Lean's work, then give this one a shot, one of the classic war films that have had a profound impact on the genre for years to come.

Alex roy The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) - IMDb IMDb ‘Generation KKK’: Why A&E is Considering Rebranding Their Show After Backlash 22 December 2016 4:51 PM, UTC There was an error trying to load your rating for this title. Some parts of this page won't work property. Please reload or try later. X Beta I'm Watching This! Keep track of everything you watch; tell your friends. Error The Bridge on the River Kwai ( 1957 ) PG | From $2.99 (SD) on Amazon Video ON DISC After settling his differences with a Japanese PoW camp commander, a British colonel co-operates to oversee his men's construction of a railway bridge for their captors - while oblivious to a plan by the Allies to destroy it.

Director: a list of 40 titles created 10 Nov 2011 a list of 25 titles created 12 Dec 2011 a list of 39 titles created 01 Apr 2012 a list of 35 titles created 07 Apr 2012 a list of 36 titles created 21 Jun 2012 Title: The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) 8.2/10 Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below. You must be a registered user to use the IMDb rating plugin. Won 7 Oscars. Another 23 wins & 7 nominations. See more awards » Videos Allied prisoners of war plan for several hundred of their number to escape from a German camp during World War II. Director: John Sturges The story of T.E. Lawrence , the English officer who successfully united and led the diverse, often warring, Arab tribes during World War I in order to fight the Turks. Director: David Lean An in-depth examination of the ways in which the U.S.

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Director: Stuart Rosenberg A British team is sent to cross occupied Greek territory and destroy the massive German gun emplacement that commands a key sea channel. Director: J. Lee Thompson Edit Storyline The film deals with the situation of British prisoners of war during World War II who are ordered to build a bridge to accommodate the Burma-Siam railway. Their instinct is to sabotage the bridge but, under the leadership of Colonel Nicholson, they are persuaded that the bridge should be constructed as a symbol of British morale, spirit and dignity in adverse circumstances. At first, the prisoners admire Nicholson when he bravely endures torture rather than compromise his principles for the benefit of the Japanese commandant Saito. He is an honorable but arrogant man, who is slowly revealed to be a deluded obsessive. He convinces himself that the bridge is a monument to British character, but actually is a monument to himself, and his insistence on its construction becomes a subtle form of collaboration with the enemy. Unknown to him, the Allies have sent a mission into the jungle, led by Warden and an American, Shears, to blow up the bridge. Written by alfiehitchie It spans a whole new world of entertainment!

Genres: Rated PG for mild war violence | See all certifications » Parents Guide: 14 December 1957 (USA) See more » Also Known As: El puente sobre el río Kwai See more » Filming Locations: 161 min Sound Mix: 70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) (RCA Sound Recording)| Mono (35 mm prints) (RCA Sound Recording)| 4-Track Stereo (Linear PCM) Color: Did You Know? Trivia Sam Spiegel asked Ben Gazzara , the star of his previous film The Strange One (1957), to play Lt. Joyce, but he was unavailable. Cliff Robertson was also considered. See more » Goofs The movie credits have only one 'n' in Alec Guinness ' name (this has been corrected in the "restored" version). See more » Quotes Major Hughes : Jennings has a plan, sir. He seems to think... Colonel Nicholson : Yes, I'm sure Jennings has a plan. But escape? Where, into this jungle? That fellow Saito was right: no need for barbed wire or fence, one chance in a hundred of survival.

I'm sure a man of Commander Shears' experience will attest to that. Commander Shears : I'd say the odds against a successful escape are about 100 to one. But may I add another word, Colonel? The odds against survival in this camp are even worse. (L.A. CA) – See all my reviews I recently saw The Bridge on the River Kwai at the Cinerama Dome, and it was quite spectacular. Unlike some of today's grand adventure films, you get to know the characters along with seeing great scenes of acting and cinematography. Alec Guinness is at the top of his form as the single minded Colonel Nicholson. The scene between Nicholson and Saito in Saito's hut is remarkable. Nicholson still will not concede defeat, he even takes offense that other officers of different armies gave in and worked alongside the enlisted men. Saito can't understand Nicholson's acceptance of his punishment, and it drives him crazy. The film's plot has two stories that are beautifully intertwined. Shears' return to the bridge is his only way to escape the bridge.

In the film's final act, the tension is turned up as the British commandos try to blow up the bridge, and a train, and only then does Nicholson realise what the bridge really is. The Bridge on the River Kwai is one film that is hard to top, the only film able to do that is Lawrence of Arabia, both directed by the meticulous eye of David Lean. One director who could put intimacy in epic circumstances. 34 of 43 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes The Bridge on the River Kwai | film by Lean [1957] | Britannica.com The Bridge on the River Kwai film by Lean [1957] THIS IS A DIRECTORY PAGE. Britannica does not currently have an article on this topic. Alec Guinness (second from left) in The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), directed by David Lean. © 1957 Columbia Pictures Corporation Learn about this topic in these articles: in Sir David Lean ...by the standout performances of Charles Laughton in Hobson’s Choice (1954) and Katharine Hepburn in Summertime (1955).

He returned to prominence with the prisoner-of-war drama The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), a film noted for its psychological battles of will and taut action sequences. It won seven Academy Awards, including best picture and Lean’s first as best... The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) Pages: ( 1 ) ( 2 ) ( 3 ) Background The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), the memorable, epic World War II adventure/action, anti-war drama, was the first of director David Lean's major multi-million dollar, wide-screen super-spectaculars (his later epics included Lawrence of Arabia (1962) and Doctor Zhivago (1965)). The screenplay was based upon French author Pierre Boulle's 1954 novel of the same name. [Boulle was better known for his screenplay for Planet of the Apes (1963).] Although he received sole screenplay credit, other deliberately uncredited, blacklisted co-scripting authors (exiled Carl Foreman - who scripted High Noon (1952) - and Michael Wilson) had collaborated with him, but were denied elibigility.

They were post-humously credited years later, in late 1984, in a special Academy ceremony. [When the film was restored, the names of Wilson and Foreman were added to the credits.] [The film's story was loosely based on a true World War II incident, and the real-life character of Lieutenant Colonel Philip Toosey. One of a number of Allied POW's, the senior British officer Toosey was in charge of his men from late 1942 through May 1943 when they were ordered to build two Kwai River bridges in Burma (first a temporary one made of wood completed in February 1943 and a permanent one of steel/concrete completed a few months later), to help move Japanese supplies and troops from Bangkok to Rangoon. In reality, the actual bridge for the Burma Railway - depicted in the film - spanned the Mae Khlung River, not the Kwai River. It took 8 months to build (rather than two months). The two bridges were actually used until they were destroyed two years after their construction by Allied bombings - in late June, 1945.

The memoirs of the 'real' Colonel Nicholson were compiled into a 1991 book by Peter Davies entitled The Man Behind the Bridge: Colonel Toosey and the River Kwai. Today, the steel/concrete bridge has been rebuilt and is used by passenger trains - the river was renamed Kwae Yai ('Big Kwae') to accommodate tourists searching for the bridge from the film.] The film was the number one box-office success of the year (the highest grossing film) and it won critical acclaim as well - eight Academy Award nominations and seven Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Actor (Alec Guinness), Best Director, Best Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium (Pierre Boulle), Best Cinematography, Best Score, and Best Film Editing. Only Sessue Hayakawa, a former silent screen star and one of the first important Asian stars, who was nominated for his Best Supporting Actor role as the hot-tempered Japanese colonel, lost. The film created an additional stir when it debuted on ABC television on September 25, 1966. The date was dubbed "Black Sunday" due to the loss of business at movie theatres on account of its popular airing.

Shot on location in the steamy, colorful, dense tropical jungles of Ceylon (Sri Lanka), the story's theme is the futility and insanity of war, and the irony of British pride, viewed through the psychological, confrontational struggle of imperialistic wills between a proud and rigid British and Japanese Colonel. The two protagonists are symbols of different, opposing cultures, but actually they share much in common - egotistical pride, dedication, a belief in saving "face," and stubborn, inflexible obedience to their class, military codes and rules. With an all-male lead cast, themes of heroism, pride, military tradition, hierarchy, and power are masterfully interwoven into a plot that is ambiguous enough to allow for various viewpoints and perspectives. The Story Before and during the title credits, an evocative opening shows a single soaring, circling hawk, free from restraints. The aerial camera view pulls back to reveal a vast, green, and steamy tropical jungle (from the hawk's point of view), then descends into the teeming, chattering, and dense underbrush of the forest to pan by a row of crude graveyards (in the jungle and next to train tracks), marked with makeshift wooden crosses.

A train with a machine-gunner on top whistles as it roars past the graves, coming upon POWs in a World War II Japanese prisoner of war camp. The camp inhabitants are building one link in the infamous Bangkok-Rangoon "death railway." A newly arrived regiment of defeated British POWs is marched into the camp from the Southeast Asian Burmese/Siamese jungle - it is 1943. Two current, long-time prisoners, one of whom is handsome American Navy sailor "Commander" Shears (William Holden), are digging graves to bury comrades. [In the original novel, Shears was a dedicated officer, but here, he's a typical Hollywood hunk character.] Sweltering, Shears notices the new arrivals and jokes: Shears: Those new prisoners see us diggin' graves, they might all run away. Japanese overseer Captain Kanematsu (Henry Okawa): No time for jokes. Finish work...Dig dig. Shears and his Australian companion Weaver are placed on the sick list after bribing the Japanese Captain with a cigarette lighter (taken from one of the corpses). Shears lacks a commitment or adherence to any specific code or ideal other than to himself - and toward his own survival.

His cynically-stated goals are to stay alive and eventually escape, as he turns and brashly offers a mocking eulogy for one of his compatriots just interred: Here lies Corporal Herbert Thompson, serial number 01234567, valiant member of the King's own, and Queen's own, or something, who died of beriberi in the year of our Lord 1943. For the greater glory of...(pause) what did he die for?...I don't mock the grave or the man. May he rest in peace. He found little enough of it while he was alive. The camp's dutiful Japanese commandant, Colonel Saito (Sessue Hayakawa), is interrupted and told of the arrival of the battalion. In his bamboo hut, Saito is kneeling and dressed in a traditional kimono, with a Japanese print behind him.

He hears the distant, insidious whistling, the tune of the "Colonel Bogey March," [which became one of the year's hit records] as the British troops approach closer to the camp, insolently announcing their arrival, swelling the sound to a rousing, defiant crescendo by the time of their appearance. Now uniformed and wearing his ceremonial sword, Saito emerges from his hut, salutes, and walks up to the newly-arrived, stiff-lipped ranking British commandant, Colonel Nicholson (Alec Guinness) in the open, dirt yard. He orders the British prisoners (including all the officers) to build a bridge - beginning the next day after a day of rest. He also offers the inmates a motto: 'Be happy in your work'. [This scene was referenced, in homage, in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991), in the speech of the Klingon Commander (William Morgan Sheppard) of a high-security work/prison camp on the ice world of planetoid Rura Penthe.

Rura Penthe was itself a reference to 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne - the name of the slave labor camp that inspired Captain Nemo's rage against society and that was the location of his death.]: Nicholson: My name is Nicholson. Saito: I am Colonel Saito. (He steps up on a box to view the prisoners and address them.) In the name of his Imperial Majesty, I welcome you. I am the commanding officer of this camp, which is Camp 16 along the great railroad which will soon connect Bangkok with Rangoon. You British prisoners have been chosen to build a bridge across the River Kwai. It will be pleasant work requiring skill, and officers will work as well as men. The Japanese Army cannot have idle mouths to feed. If you work hard, you will be treated well. But if you do not work hard, you will be punished! A word to you about escape. There is no barbed wire, no stockade, no watchtower. They are not necessary. We are an island in the jungle. Escape is impossible. You would die. Today you rest. Tomorrow you will begin.

Let me remind you of General Yamashita's motto: 'Be happy in your work.' Dismissed! In brief cutaways to Shears from the side, the chief 'know-it-all' gravedigger watches with a mixture of amusement and disgust. He condescendingly mocks the scene from the open-air hospital hut at a distance. Brave, proud, and determined, but obstinate, ramrod British officer Colonel Nicholson refuses to surrender full command of his regiment. Maintaining an iron-clad fixed position, he immediately locks horns with Saito by arguing that according to the Geneva Convention, officers are not permitted to do manual labor alongside enlisted men: Nicholson: I heard your remarks just now sir. I can assure you, my men will carry on in the way one expects of the British soldier. And naturally, my officers and I will be responsible for their conduct. Now sir, you may have overlooked the fact that the use of officers for manual labor is expressly forbidden by the Geneva Convention. Saito: Is that so? Nicholson: I happen to have a copy of the Convention with me and would be glad to let you glance through it if you wish. Saito: That will not be necessary.

(Saito turns and walks into his hut, as lightning claps are heard from tropical storm clouds overhead - a brief storm passes through.) The malingering "Commander" Shears, shaving in the medical hut, has lied about his rank to get preferential treatment reserved for officers. He tells the touring Nicholson that he and the Australian are the only remaining survivors of the original POWs who built the camp: "Mostly Aussies, some Lime, some British, Indians, Burmese, Siamese...They died, of malaria, dysentery, beriberi, gangrene. Other causes of death: famine, overwork, bullet wounds, snake bites, Saito. And then there were some who just got tired of living." As Shears is examined by Army POW Doctor Major Clipton (James Donald) on a cot, he tells Nicholson: "Don't bother about me, Colonel. I'm not anxious to get off the sick list." After Nicholson marches off - thinking Saito is 'a reasonable type' and sympathetic to his point of view about manual labor, Shears is amused: I can think of a lot of things to call Saito, but reasonable, that's a new one.

In a late-night meeting between Nicholson and his officers, attended also by Shears and Clipton, the men contemplate the odds of successful escape and survival. Nicholson determines that escape is not only impossible but not permitted: Shears: Oh, I'd say the odds against a successful escape are about 100 to 1...But may I add another word, Colonel...The odds against survival in this camp are even worse. You've seen the graveyard. There you realize. You give up hope of escape. To even stop thinking about it is like accepting a death sentence. Nicholson: Why haven't you tried to escape, Commander? Shears: Oh, I've been biding my time, waiting for the right moment, the right company. Nicholson: I understand how you feel. Of course, it's normally the duty of a captured soldier to attempt escape. But my men and I are involved in a curious legal point of which you are unaware. In Singapore, we were ordered to surrender by Command Headquarters, ordered, mind you. Therefore, in our case, escape might well be an infraction of military law. Interesting? Dr. Clipton: Yes, interesting point. Shears: I'm sorry sir.

I didn't quite follow you. You mean you intend to uphold the letter of the law, no matter what it costs. Nicholson: Without law, Commander, there is no civilization. Shears: You just took my point. Here, there is no civilization. Nicholson: Then, we have the opportunity to introduce it. I suggest that we drop the subject of escape. As an English gentleman, Nicholson insists that his men be treated as soldiers and that the officers serve only in supervisory capacities, according to the military code of behavior: "I want everything to go off without a hitch starting first thing tomorrow morning. And remember this: our men must always feel they are still commanded by us and not by the Japanese. So long as they have that idea to cling to, they'll be soldiers and not slaves." Shears knows better through experience: "I hope they can remain soldiers, Colonel. As for me, I'm just a slave, a living slave." Both commanders blindly follow their own rigid military codes, soon coming to an impasse. The next morning, Saito orders "the English prisoners" to finish the bridge by a rigid deadline - the 12th day of May, working under the direction of a Japanese engineer.

As commanding warden, Saito insists that all the men work without regard to rank: All men will work. Your officers will work beside you. This is only just. For it is they who betray you by surrender. Your shame is their dishonor. It is they who told you: 'Better to live like a coolie than die like a hero.' It is they who brought you here, not I. Therefore, they will join you in useful labor. That is all. Stoically and stubbornly, Nicholson keeps his men standing in the hot sun, rather than letting his officers work side-by-side in physical labor with the enlisted men. He cites Article 27 of the Geneva Convention to defend his principles. Equally determined in the stand-off with his armed men behind him, Saito slaps Nicholson across the face with the tattered book, drawing blood from his nose. Saito: You speak to me of code. What code? The coward's code. (He throws the book away to the ground.) What do you know of the soldier's code? Of bushido? Nothing. You are unworthy of command.

(He breaks Nicholson's commander's stick in two and throws it to the ground.) Nicholson: Since you refuse to abide by the laws of the civilized world, we must consider ourselves absolved from our duty to obey you. My officers will not do manual labor. Saito: We shall see. (He steps to the side and addresses the prisoners.) All English present prisoners to work! (All the prisoners, excluding the officers, are marched away toward work.) When Nicholson still refuses to give the order for his officers to begin work, and his men obey him, Saito persuasively calls for a jeep with a machine-gun in the back, pulling it up in front of the British commander and his officers. From the hospital hut, Shears tells the doctor, Major Clipton that he fears the worst about Saito's threat: "He's going to do it. Believe me. He's really going to do it." Before Saito reaches the count of three, Clipton runs out and interrupts the tense stand-off: Colonel Saito. I've seen and heard everything. So has every man in the hospital. There are too many witnesses. You'll never get away with calling it a mass escape.

Most of those men can't walk...Is this your soldier's code? Murdering unarmed men? (Saito looks up at the blistering hot sun, and slowly walks into his hut. Flies are heard buzzing on the soundtrack as the men remain at attention.) Hours later at the end of the work day as the roasting sun is finally setting, the work detail of enlisted men are marched back to the prison yard. The defiant officers are still standing at attention in their same places (all holding fast to their positions - except for one who dropped to the ground from the intense heat). All officers are ordered to "the punishment hut" (or "the hole"), while Nicholson is summoned into Saito's headquarters. Hands raised, the men shout their support for their Colonel when he disappears inside. A few moments later, his legs limp, Nicholson is dragged to a corrugated metal-encased sweat box (called "the oven" by Shears) to be tortured under the blazing sun so that he will change his mind. The men pick up the tune: "For He's A Jolly Good Fellow" and then offer three cheers.

Taking advantage of the situation, Shears successfully manages to escape from the camp into the almost impenetrable jungle (his two companions from the hospital, the Aussie Corporal Weaver and British Lieutenant Jennings are not so lucky), but he is shot and falls into a rushing river. Down-river, he manages to swim to safety. [Scenes of Shears' escape and struggles are alternatingly cross-cut with scenes back at the camp.] Construction resumes on the bridge, but progress is slow, ineffectual and behind schedule, fouled by accidental mishaps and engineering failures - without the presence of the morale-boosting commander. After three days, Clipton, the British medical officer, is granted an audience with Saito. On the wall in Saito's quarters, behind a scale model of the bridge, hangs an American pin-up calendar showing the month of February ("Joey's Garage, Elk City, Ohio"). Clipton pleads to him that Nicholson's health is deteriorating, and that he is only following the rules of the Geneva Treaty Accord.

Clipton learns that the Japanese commandant blames Nicholson (still in the oven) for delays in the bridge construction: "Because of your colonel's stubbornness, we are far behind schedule." When Saito accuses the workers of sabotage and threatens shooting them, Clipton points out to Saito how gunning the soldiers down would violate his own set of principles, illustrating how the Japanese colonel is caught in a no-win dilemma - he will lose face if the bridge is not completed by the rigid deadline, and he will also lose face if he accedes to Nicholson's demands: Saito: Enlisted prisoners sabotaged the work. I have seen it. I could have them all shot. Clipton: Then, who would build your bridge? Besides, are you sure it is sabotage? Perhaps the men don't work well without their own officers to direct them. Saito: My officers will direct them. Your officers will work beside them. Clipton: That's for Colonel Nicholson to decide. As he pointed out, it's against the rules. Saito: Do not speak to me of rules. This is war. This is not a game of cricket. He's mad, your Colonel. Quite mad.

Clipton is allowed five minutes in the oven to speak with Nicholson during his severe punishment. The imprisoned, highly-principled commander also believes that Saito is mad. In parallel fashion, he refuses to give in: Nicholson: That man's [Saito] the worst commanding officer I've ever come across. Actually, I think he's mad...Blackmail... Clipton: I know, sir. He means it. I'm sure he does. It's a question of face, pure and simple. He can't give in. Nicholson: It's still blackmail. Clipton: Sir, you can't stand much more of this. And wouldn't the officers be better off working than suffocating in that hole? The men are doing a wonderful job. They're going as slow as they dare. But Saito has cut their food rations. And if he makes the sick men work, well, they're going to die. That's all there is to it. Nicholson: Yes Clipton, I understand, truly. But don't you see. It's a matter of principle. If we give in now, there'll be no end to it. No...I'm adamant.

I will not have an officer from my battalion working as a coolie! Clipton wonders to himself after having witnessed both colonels calling each other mad: "Are they both mad or am I going mad? Or is it the sun?" He gazes upwards into the blinding sun. Into the searing sun elsewhere walks a weakened and dehydrated Shears. Vultures begin to gather above him as he crawls through a parched wilderness. A vulture's shadow turns into a colorful kite (of a red-headed bird), the playtoy of some local village boys - he is rescued. In the camp, Saito addresses the enlisted men about a lack of progress in the bridge's construction - there are only three months remaining until the deadline. Saito announces that chief engineer Lt. Miura (K. Katsumoto) is "unworthy of command" and has been removed from his post. The men are given a day's rest ("All work and no play make Jack a dull boy," rationalizes the ingratiating Saito) and mail (and Red Cross packages) are delivered to them. However, they will begin all over again the next day with Saito personally in charge of the bridge construction.

The Bridge on the River Kwai Movie Review (1957) | Roger Ebert Tweet The last words in David Lean 's "The Bridge on the River Kwai" are "Madness! Madness ... madness!" Although the film's two most important characters are both mad, the hero more than the villain, we're not quite certain what is intended by that final dialogue. Part of the puzzle is caused by the film's shifting points of view. Advertisement Seen through the eyes of Col. Nicholson ( Alec Guinness ), commanding officer of a battalion of British war prisoners, the war narrows to a single task, building a bridge across the Kwai. For Shears ( William Holden ), an American who escapes from the camp, madness would be returning to the jungle. For Col. Saito (Sessue Hayakawa), the Japanese commandant of the camp, madness and suicide are never far away as the British build a better bridge than his own men could. And to Clipton ( James Donald ), the army doctor who says the final words, they could simply mean that the final violent confusion led to unnecessary death. Most war movies are either for or against their wars.

"The Bridge on the River Kwai" (1957) is one of the few that focuses not on larger rights and wrongs but on individuals. Like Robert Graves' World War I memoir, Goodbye to All That, it shows men grimly hanging onto military discipline and pride in their units as a way of clinging to sanity. By the end of "Kwai" we are less interested in who wins than in how individual characters will behave. The film is set in 1943, in a POW camp in Burma, along the route of a rail line the Japanese were building between Malaysia and Rangoon. Shears is already in the camp; we've seen him steal a cigarette lighter from a corpse to bribe his way into the sick bay. He watches as a column of British prisoners, led by Nicholson, marches into camp whistling "The Colonel Bogey March." Advertisement Nicholson and Saito, the commandant, are quickly involved in a faceoff. Saito wants all of the British to work on the bridge. Nicholson says the Geneva Convention states officers may not be forced to perform manual labor.

He even produces a copy of the document, which Saito uses to whip him across the face, drawing blood. Nicholson is prepared to die rather than bend on principle, and eventually, in one of the film's best-known sequences, he's locked inside "the Oven"--a corrugated iron hut that stands in the sun. The film's central relationship is between Saito and Nicholson, a professional soldier approaching his 28th anniversary of army service ("I don't suppose I've been at home more than 10 months in all that time"). The Japanese colonel is not a military pro; he learned English while studying in London, he tells Nicholson, and likes corned beef and Scotch whisky. But he is a rigidly dutiful officer, and we see him weeping privately with humiliation because Nicholson is a better bridge builder; he prepares for hara-kiri if the bridge is not ready on time. The scenes in the jungle are crisply told. We see the bridge being built, and we watch the standoff between the two colonels. Hayakawa and Guinness make a good match as they create two disciplined officers who never bend, but nevertheless quietly share the vision of completing the bridge.

Advertisement Hayakawa was Hollywood's first important Asian star; he became famous with a brilliant silent performance in Cecil B. DeMille's "The Cheat" (1915). Although he worked onstage and in films in both Japan and the United States, he was unusual among Japanese actors of his generation in his low-key delivery; in "Kwai" he doesn't bluster, but is cool and understated--as clipped as Guinness. (Incredibly, he was 68 when he played the role.) Alec Guinness, oddly enough, was not Lean's first choice for the role that won him an Oscar as best actor. Charles Laughton originally was cast as Col. Nicholson, but "could not face the heat of the Ceylon location, the ants, and being cramped in a cage," his wife, Elsa Lanchester , wrote in her autobiography. The contrasts between Laughton and Guinness are so extreme that one wonders how Lean could see both men playing the same part. Surely Laughton would have been juicier and more demonstrative.

Guinness, who says in his autobiography that Lean "didn't particularly want me" for the role, played Nicholson as dry, reserved, yet burning with an intense obsession. That obsession is with building a better bridge, and finishing it on time. The story's great irony is that once Nicholson successfully stands up to Saito, he immediately devotes himself to Saito's project as if it is his own. He suggests a better site for the bridge, he offers blueprints and timetables, and he even enters Clipton's hospital hut in search of more workers, and marches out at the head of a column of the sick and the lame. On the night before the first train crossing, he hammers into place a plaque boasting that the bridge was "designed and built by soldiers of the British army." Advertisement It is Clipton who asks him, diffidently, if they might not be accused of aiding the enemy. Not at all, Guinness replies: War prisoners must work when ordered, and besides, they are setting an example of British efficiency.

"One day the war will be over, and I hope the people who use this bridge in years to come will remember how it was built, and who built it." A pleasant sentiment, but in the meantime the bridge will be used to advance the war against the Allies. Nicholson is so proud of the bridge that he essentially forgets about the war. The story in the jungle moves ahead neatly, economically, powerfully. There is a parallel story involving Shears that is not as successful. Shears escapes, is taken to a hospital in British-occupied Ceylon, drinks martinis and frolics with a nurse, and then is asked by Maj. Warden ( Jack Hawkins ) to return as part of a plan to blow up the bridge. "Are you crazy?" Shears cries, but is blackmailed by Warden's threat to tell the Americans he has been impersonating an officer. Holden's character, up until the time their guerrilla mission begins, seems fabricated; he's unconvincing playing a shirker, and his heroism at the end seems more plausible. Lean handles the climax with precision and suspense.

There's a nice use of the boots of a sentry on the bridge, sending hollow reverberations down to the men wiring the bridge with plastic explosives. Meanwhile, the British celebrate completion of the bridge with an improbable musical revue that doesn't reflect what is known about the brutal conditions of the POW camps. Advertisement The next morning brings an elaborate interplay of characters and motives, as the sound of the approaching train creates suspense, while Nicholson, incredibly, seems ready to expose the sabotage rather than see his beloved bridge go down. (The shot of the explosion and the train tumbling into the river uncannily mirrors a similar scene in Buster Keaton's silent classic "The General," in which the train looks more convincing.) Although David Lean (1908-1991) won his reputation and perhaps even his knighthood on the basis of the epic films he directed, starting with "The Bridge on the River Kwai" in 1957, there's a contrarian argument that his best work was done before the Oscars started to pile up.

After "Kwai" came " Lawrence of Arabia ," " Doctor Zhivago ," " Ryan's Daughter " and " A Passage to India "; all but "Ryan" were nominated for best picture, and the first two won. Before "Kwai" he made smaller, more tightly wound films, including "Brief Encounter," " Oliver Twist " and " Great Expectations " (1946). There is a majesty in the later films (except for "Ryan's Daughter") that compensates for the loss of human detail, but in "Kwai" he still has an eye for the personal touch, as in Saito's private moments and Nicholson's smug inspection of the finished bridge. There is something almost Lear-like in his final flash of sanity: "What have I done!" Popular Blog Posts Time Out says 4 out of 5 stars David Lean's much-lauded epic begins in deafening silence, as a hawk soars majestically over a lush jungle landscape. Then another striking image: graves---no names---by the side of an under-construction railway.

From sky to ground in two shots, and it already feels like we've traversed a great distance, with two and a half hours of skillful, suspenseful WWII adventure to go. The film shuffles elegantly among three perspectives: that of Japanese commandant Saito (Hayakawa), the merciless overseer of a POW camp; British Col. Nicholson (Guinness), Saito's prisoner and stalwart rival; and U.S. Navy man Shears (Holden), a cynical con artist who miraculously escapes from Saito's camp, only to be conscripted to return and destroy the bridge the inmates are building. There is no clear distinction between heroism and villainy; Lean uses the massive CinemaScope canvas to keep us at an emotional remove from the characters so they seem like checkerboard pieces moving toward a fixed, destructive point. (The assault on the bridge itself is a peerless piece of action filmmaking, visually and metaphorically stimulating.) If there's a misstep here, it would be in the character of camp medic Maj. Clipton (James Donald).

His overwrought dialogue---especially some Heston-like cries of "Madness!" during the finale---is too much of an on-the-nose contrast to the story's necessarily clinical existentialism. It slightly dilutes the film's piercing grandeur, but the nit is easily enough picked. By: Keith Uhlich Eric Lomax, River Kwai Prisoner Who Forgave, Dies at 93 - The New York Times The New York Times Books |Eric Lomax, World War II Prisoner Who Forgave, Dies at 93 Search Continue reading the main story Photo Eric Lomax, left, in 1998 with Nagase Takashi, his chief wartime tormentor. The two met again in Thailand. Credit Micool Brooke/Associated Press Eric Lomax, a former British soldier who was tortured by the Japanese while he was a prisoner during World War II and half a century later forgave one of his tormentors — an experience he recounted in a memoir, “ The Railway Man ” — died on Monday in Berwick-upon-Tweed, England. He was 93. His death was confirmed by his publisher, Vintage Books. Mr.

Lomax, who was born in Scotland, was 19 when he joined the Royal Corps of Signals in 1939. He was one of thousands of British soldiers who surrendered to the Japanese in Singapore in 1942. Many were relocated to Thailand and forced to build the Burma Railway, also known as the Death Railway. The building of the railroad and the brutality involved was portrayed in “ The Bridge on the River Kwai ,” the 1957 film directed by David Lean. Mr. Lomax was repeatedly beaten and interrogated after his captors found a radio receiver he had made from spare parts. Multiple bones were broken and water was poured into his nose and mouth. One of his constant torturers stood out: Nagase Takashi, an interpreter. “At the end of the war, I would have been happy to murder him,” Mr. Lomax told The New York Times in 1995, shortly after the “The Railway Man” was published and became a best seller. Advertisement Continue reading the main story In the book, Mr. Lomax described having fantasies about meeting Mr.

Nagase one day and how he had spent much of the 1980s looking for information about him. He learned that after the war Mr. Nagase had become an interpreter for the Allies and helped locate thousands of graves and mass burial sites along the Burma Railway. The men finally met in 1993, after Mr. Lomax had read an article about Mr. Nagase’s being devastated by guilt over his treatment of one particular British soldier. Mr. Lomax realized that he was that soldier. “When we met, Nagase greeted me with a formal bow,” Mr. Lomax said on the Web site of the Forgiveness Project , a British group that seeks to bring together victims and perpetrators of crimes. “I took his hand and said in Japanese, ‘Good morning, Mr. Nagase, how are you?’ He was trembling and crying, and he said over and over again: ‘I am so sorry, so very sorry.’ ” Mr. Lomax continued: “I had come with no sympathy for this man, and yet Nagase, through his complete humility, turned this around.

In the days that followed we spent a lot of time together, talking and laughing.” He added, “We promised to keep in touch and have remained friends ever since.” Mr. Lomax told The Times said Mr. Nagase’s later life resembled his own. “He has had the same psychological and career problems that I have,” he said. A film based on “The Railway Man,” starring Colin Firth and Nicole Kidman, is scheduled to be released next year. Mr. Lomax was born in Edinburgh, graduated from Royal High School and took a job with the city’s postal service at 16, according to The Herald Scotland newspaper. After the war he enlisted in two more years of military service and rose to captain. He later studied personnel management and became a lecturer at the University of Strathclyde, in Scotland, even as his anger and bitterness created problems in his personal life. Mr. Lomax is survived by his wife, Patti; a daughter from a previous marriage; and four stepchildren. His search for Mr. Nagase began in earnest after he retired, in 1982. His wife, a nurse he married in the 1980s, wrote the first letter to Mr.

Nagase on her husband’s behalf, and she helped arrange the 1993 meeting, which took place at the bridge that was the inspiration for '‘The Bridge on the River Kwai.’' Advertisement “I haven’t forgiven Japan as a nation,” Mr. Lomax told The Times, “but I’ve forgiven one man, because he’s experienced such great personal regret.” Correction: November 9, 2012 An obituary on Oct. 10 about Eric Lomax, a former British soldier who was tortured by the Japanese during World War II and later publicly forgave one of his torturers, referred incorrectly to the site where the two met in 1993. It is the Mae Klong River in Thailand, not the River Kwai.

(The bridge on which they met was the inspiration for the novel “The Bridge Over the River Kwai” and the movie “The Bridge on the River Kwai,” but Kwai is not the actual name of the river, although it is the name by which it has become popularly known.) The error was repeated in an accompanying picture caption A version of this article appears in print on October 10, 2012, on Page B17 of the New York edition with the headline: Eric Lomax Dies at 93; Forgave Torturer. Order Reprints | Today's Paper | Subscribe

Question: Who directed the 1957 film 'The Bridge On The River Kwai'?
Answer: DAVID LEAN